Insolvency and international cooperation in insolvency matters have undergone major and constant redevelopment, both in the European Union and internationally, as required by the UN Commission on International Trade Law. However, aside from its banking sector, Switzerland has not fully participated in this modernisation process.
In decision 5A_375/2017, which is slated for official publication in the court reporter, the Swiss Supreme Court ruled for the first time that the statute of limitation for a claim evidenced by a certificate of shortfall is governed by the Swiss Debt Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law (DEBA), irrespective of whether foreign or Swiss substantive law is applicable to the original claim (i.e. the claim resulting from two arbitral awards rendered in Singapore) . This may allow the award creditor enforcing an arbitral award in Switzerland to benefit from a much longer limitation period.
The Swiss Debt Enforcement and Bankruptcy Act (DEBA) allows the initiation of debt enforcement proceedings before a court becomes involved. A creditor can request the competent debt enforcement office (normally at the domicile of the debtor) to issue a payment order to the debtor. The office serves that payment order without verifying the existence and enforceability of the purported claim; however, the debtor may declare its objection, within 10 days, to the debt enforcement office.
Swiss Civil Procedure Law in a Nutshell (Volume 9 of 12)
This blog series provides litigators and corporate counsel from other jurisdictions with a practical understanding of the mechanics, advantages, and limits of litigation before State Courts in Switzerland.
No Class Actions
Mit einer Änderung des Schuldbetreibungs- und Konkursgesetzes (SchKG) per 1. Januar 2019 sollen Personen, die grundlos oder missbräuchlich betrieben wurden, besser geschützt werden. Konkret wird ein neues und einfaches Verfahren eingeführt, mit welchem man sich gegen ungerechtfertigte Eintragungen im Betreibungsregister wehren kann. Folgender Beitrag vermittelt einen allgemeinen Überblick über die wichtigsten Rechtsbehelfe, die einem zu Unrecht Betriebenen ab dem 1. Januar 2019 zur Verfügung stehen.
Betreibungsverfahren in der Schweiz
On 1 January 2019, certain changes to Swiss debt enforcement and bankruptcy law will enter into force. The revised law aims to offer better protection for debtors against unjustified debt enforcement steps and to facilitate the recognition of foreign bankruptcy proceedings.
Restriction on disclosure in debt enforcement register
Starting point
The Swiss Federal Council recently released a comprehensive report on the embedding of the Blockchain technology into the Swiss legal framework: This report shall guide the way to bringing the legal certainty for the Swiss Blockchain ecosystem to the next level.
The Swiss court in Zug, the Handelsblatt, Trado GmbH, Bloomberg and a shareholder of Envion AG have now confirmed that the bankruptcy court of Zug decided to liquidate Envion AG on 14 November 2018.
As already reported, the reason for initiating liquidation was that Envion AG did not appoint an auditor within the time limit set by the court. Envion AG therefore suffers from a so-called "lack of organs" which, according to Swiss law, leads to the liquidation of the company in the absence of remedy.
Cross-border insolvencies are often complicated and time-consuming. In the regulated financial sector, significant efforts have already been made in Switzerland and internationally to streamline these processes and to facilitate cooperation between the relevant authorities across jurisdictions. Forthcoming changes to the Swiss Law on Private International Law (PILA) seek to modernise the general regime applicable in Switzerland to cross-border insolvencies outside of the regulated financial sector. The revised rules are expected to enter into force at some point in 2019.